


The Sound of Bellflowers

by kuro



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Deaf Character, M/M, Rating May Change, Romance, Slow Build, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2305292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro/pseuds/kuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Tony meet during Loki's capture in Stuttgart. They are supposed to be teammates, but for some reason, all they seem to do is clash. Steve is determined to work through their communication issues, but that might really be more work than he ever could have imagined. </p><p>[An Avengers-AU with a twist. Based on a 'What if...?' discussion that somehow evolved into a fic.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Communication Issues

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes to this story:  
> \- A variety of things differ from movie canon, many of which will be revealed during the story.  
> \- Tony is much younger, around 26 years old.  
> \- Only the first chapter will cover 'The Avengers' itself (or what I've left of it), the end of the first chapter is already completely independent from canon.  
> \- My eternal thanks go out to inukagome15, who gave me the idea and also supported me along the way. Without her, not a single word would have been written.  
> \- About the title: In case you don't know what bellflowers are, they are star-shaped flowers usually found in the colours blue (sometimes with a purple hue) and white. They also stand for honesty and never-ending love. And well, while they do have 'bell' in their name, they're called that because of their rather unusual shape, not because they make noise. :)

_**Stuttgart, Germany** _

When the music started blaring over the Quinjet's loudspeakers, Steve was completely disoriented for a second. He had been fully focused on fighting Loki and his magic, and while he had been prepared for the possibility of strange things happening, the sudden noise was more than unexpected.

Much later, he would learn what kind of music it actually was, but right that moment, he was completely confused about what was happening. All he knew was that that racket definitely wasn't Natasha's doing, because Natasha knew better than to surprise him and possibly endanger their mission. He fumbled with his shield clumsily, trying not to drop it, readying himself to go back into the fray regardless of the confusion. He had decided to accept this mission, and he would finish it.

The next moment, however, Iron Man descended from the night sky, blasting a bright blue beam at Loki and hitting him square in the chest. Loki crumpled to the floor rather inelegantly, and Iron Man smoothly landed directly in front of him (in his frankly rather showy signature three-point move that they had showed Steve in the recordings). Iron Man stood, both flashy and imposing at once, and trained his weapons on Loki, daring him to keep on fighting.

Loki surrendered.

Steve felt a bit irked – why send him here if they could have just sent Iron Man in the first place?

Gathering his bearings, Steve swiftly stepped up to the two of them.

“Mr. Stark,” he greeted, nodding once. _I didn't really need your help._

Iron Man – Tony Stark – slightly inclined his head towards Steve as well, keeping his hands trained on Loki all the while.

“Captain,” Stark answered. _Well, apparently you did._

Well then.

* * *

 

With a quick signal, Natasha landed the Quinjet, bringing with her some equipment to restrain Loki. Loki didn't offer any resistance when he was shackled and brought onto the Quinjet, only meekly following their orders. Steve was slightly relieved (if also doubtful) about Loki's apparent surrender. It made this whole thing considerably easier, and Steve could really use easier right now.

Fury's call had come very suddenly. He still felt kind of off-balance in his new uniform, working together with a whole new group of people. There were some things he had gotten used to very quickly, but he still turned around sometimes, expecting to see one of the members of the Howling Commandos, only to be reminded once again that they all were gone. Too often, he caught himself thinking, _I'll have to tell Bucky about that later_. And it hurt each and every time.

In contrast to Loki's calmness, he wasn't quite as happy about the fact that Stark also came on board with them, more or less ignoring Steve's presence and simply giving Natasha a hand sign when they were ready for take-off. He didn't remove the helmet once they were in the air either, and instead kept silently staring at Steve through glowing eye-slits. (Or maybe not, but Steve couldn't help but feel slightly creeped out by the impassive metal face plate. More than by the leather-clad freak sitting in one of the back seats, anyway. And the guy had just _killed a man by removing his eyeball not very surgically._ )

The drawn out mutual silence and assessment (at least on Steve's side) was disrupted when a sudden forceful gust of wind hit the Quinjet and shook the aircraft. Lightning lit up the night sky and the interior of the jet for a moment, followed by the heavy rumbling of thunder. Steve could hear Natasha curse from the pilot's seat. It seemed like their good luck hadn't lasted very long.

In the back seat, Loki, who had been calm and quiet so far, started to squirm and look upwards as if the thunder agitated him.

“What's the matter?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow (and secretly glad he finally had a chance to break the uncomfortable silence). “Scared of a little lightning?”

“I'm not overly fond of what follows,” Loki said, sneering.

The next moment, something heavy hit the top of the Quinjet. Okay. That was definitely not normal. And Stark was already heading towards the control panel of the hatch, pressing the button to open it. Jesus, was he planning to go outside in the middle of this storm?

Before Steve could do anything, however, a giant blond man wearing a red cape and carrying a hammer dropped down onto the opening hatch and stormed inside. One well-placed hit with his hammer, and Iron Man flew through the Quinjet, landing directly on top of Steve.

Steve saw it coming and tried to prepare himself for the impact, but the not inconsiderable weight of the armour made him crumple down to the floor anyway.

Stark scrambled for purchase, but before he could get back up, the giant had already grabbed Loki and jumped out of the Quinjet with him. And as soon as he had managed to get his feet back under him, Stark went after them without a word.

“What are you doing?” Steve shouted after him, but Stark had already jumped out of the hatch, vanishing in the rain and darkness. Cursing, Steve grabbed one of the parachutes lying around.

 _Freaks_ , all of them.

Natasha shouted at him to wait in the Quinjet, but nope. _Simple_ , Fury had told him. Simple, if it wasn't for the astounding number of people who were doing their darnedest to interfere.

He was so pissed off right now.

* * *

 

In the end, he managed to calm the idiots (who obviously had nothing better to do than _fight each other over a criminal_ ) down, but not without the destruction of a significant amount of trees. Once they had calmed down and ceased fighting, the giant blond, who introduced himself as Thor, turned out to be a decent fellow. He let himself be argued with, and he even graciously allowed them to bring Loki on board of the Quinjet once more. They resumed their journey to the Helicarrier with one very strange passenger more in tow.

As soon as they had arrived on the Helicarrier, Stark vanished into thin air. Steve and Natasha, on the other hand, made sure that Loki was safely under lock and key (all under the watchful eye of Thor). They allowed themselves a short break before they headed towards the commando deck, where everyone but Stark had already gathered.

Steve felt irked a little. (He felt irked a lot recently.) What had Stark actually come with them for? Steve couldn't make sense of Stark, and it bothered him a lot. The fact that Stark's very presence reminded him of things he would rather not remember didn't help that at all.

He tried to concentrate on what was being discussed in front of him instead of mulling over Stark ~~and other, darker things~~ , but the discussion didn't make him feel much better. Fury clearly hadn't felt the need to give him the whole picture when he had recruited him for this...whatever this was. Steve was very aware of the fact that Fury had some ideas and plans that he refused to talk about. He idly wondered if Natasha knew more about Fury's intentions. But if he had learned something in the short time they had known each other, it was that Natasha told you nothing she didn't want you to know, and pressuring her was mostly useless.

Halfway through the briefing, Stark finally deigned to join them. During his disappearance he had exchanged his suit of armour for an actual suit. It was dark blue and tightly fitted, with a dark golden tie that glinted whenever he moved. The sheer gaudiness of it should look ridiculous on a man, but made him look dashing instead. For some unknown reason, he was also wearing sunglasses, and his dark hair looked like a bird's nest.

Steve couldn't help but stare at Stark swanning into the room, listening to him letting loose a constant stream of words that Steve didn't really understand, casually handing out insults in-between (those, Steve understood).

Strangely enough, everybody listened to Stark. His voice was quiet, his words running together slightly like he was mumbling, but his precise, determined movements and his very presence demanded attention, not allowing anyone to interrupt him. Dr. Banner even seemed to be distinctly impressed by the guy for some reason.

Steve couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at Stark's easy display of confidence. He still felt so off-balance about everything here, and he really didn't dare to confess just how many things here were constantly throwing him for a loop. And then a guy like Tony Stark came in, completely captivating his audience and ignoring Steve's very existence ever since that first dismissive greeting.

Not that Steve was able to participate much in the conversation anyway.

But.

He was feeling more and more frustrated. And the feeling of _wrong_ kept getting stronger.

* * *

 

After the meeting was over, Stark and Banner retreated into to the lab that S.H.I.E.L.D. had provided for Banner to search for the Tesseract. And well, Steve was never the most acquiescent person, so after a short while, curiosity and impatience got the best of him and he followed them there. He had hoped that he and Stark would finally be able to have an actual conversation.

Instead, they ended up disagreeing and insulting each other while Banner was trying and failing to keep the conversation non-hostile.

Steve didn't even know why he was so irritated by Stark. Was it the sunglasses he was still wearing? Why was he wearing them anyway? And why didn't it seem to bother Banner at all?

More and more, Steve felt like he had somehow become the butt of a very elaborate joke.

Seeing that growling at each other was of little use, Steve left the lab kind of in a huff. Once outside, though, he did get curious about the things Stark and Banner had said. A lot of things made him curious, really, since everybody's job here seemed to be _not_ to answer his questions. Stark and Banner had been the first who had been relatively straight with him.

With determination, he turned towards the storage units.

* * *

 

Discounting the huge shock he had gotten, Steve had also felt a little pleased with himself when he had found the HYDRA weapons in one of the storage units. He couldn't deny that he had been hoping for a positive reaction from Stark, for once.

Somehow, however, the situation completely escalated once he returned to the lab. He couldn't clearly remember what he had been saying, or what Stark or anyone else had been saying, for that matter. He only remembered that at one point, he had ended up right in Stark's face, staring at the reflection of himself in Stark's sunglasses, snarling,

“Put on your suit!”

The next moment, the world exploded.

Steve was thrown around like a ragdoll, landing on the floor in a clumsy heap. One moment of disorientation later, he was already up again, trying to assess the situation.

“Put on your suit!” he shouted at Stark once more, because this was definitely a _very_ good reason to put on a flying suit of armour. Stark didn't react to him though. He was lying on the floor, looking around with a panicked expression.

He went over to Stark and grabbed one of his arms to pull him up. Stark startled and tried to pull his arm away. When it didn't work, he glared at Steve with angry dark brown eyes.

 _Pretty_ , Steve couldn't help but thinking.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You need to get your suit.”

Stark, however, ignored him, looking around in the destroyed lab as if he was looking for something.

“My glasses,” he croaked.

Steve was dumbfounded for a moment. Why in god's name would he be worried about his glasses _now_?

“My glasses,” Stark repeated again, looking distinctly worried now.

Steve sighed and started looking for them despite his misgivings. Were they somehow special? Was it related to the suit somehow? Steve obviously wouldn't know.

Steve found the glasses lying in the midst of some rubble after a quick search. Luckily, they seemed to still be in one piece with not even a scratch on them. He picked them up and held them out to Stark. He couldn't help but be a little surprised, because the glasses were unexpectedly heavy. They must have some kind of special function then, he concluded.

Stark immediately grabbed the glasses and put them on.

“Suit now?” Steve asked, already heading towards the door.

“Yeah,” Stark answered him, following him now. “Thanks.”

Steve booked that as a first success.

* * *

 

The funny thing was, once Steve and Stark managed to get past the outright hostility and the technobabble, they kind of seemed to work. It wasn't a walk in the park, and they had a few close calls, but in the end, they managed to save the day and keep the Helicarrier afloat. Steve felt a tiny blossom of hope bloom in his chest. Maybe they could actually do this.

Unfortunately, that thought only lasted until they found Phil Coulson had died. Stark did an immediate about-face and picked another fight with Fury, sneering at the sentimentality of humanity.

Steve wanted to throw his hands up in the air and _shout_ , but this time, he managed to swallow his irritation. What was it with that man that he was so utterly infuriating?

Fury had said he wanted them to form a team. Steve didn't really care what Fury or S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted, but he was right. They had obviously failed the first time when they were all concerned with their own business. If they wanted to succeed this time, they needed to be a team. And Stark, whether he knew it or not, was an integral part of that.

So when Stark left the commando bridge, Steve doggedly followed him. He tried to talk to him again, calmly, but Stark inadvertently blew up at him once more. Steve felt irked (that seemed to be a habit by now). Somehow, everything and anything he said seemed to come out wrong and upset Stark.

For someone who sneered at sentimentality, Stark was really a very emotional person and a very expressive one at that. His every move was filled with energy, almost as if he was dancing. But because he was still wearing these _blasted_ sunglasses, Steve had trouble getting a read on him. It both annoyed and confused him, because if he had to guess, he would say that Stark wasn't angry with him, but more like he seemed to be _afraid_ of him. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were constantly talking past each other and missing the point.

Their ~~argument~~ discussion did turn out to be fruitful, however. Even while arguing with Steve, Stark had managed to work out where Loki was headed to. Stark might be an extremely difficult person, but he definitely wasn't dumb. Unfortunately, he was also not quite as convinced about this whole team thing as Steve was and simply ran out after he had his epiphany.

But well, Steve wasn't dumb either. Within minutes, he had acquired a red-head and a blond as his new teammates, and they were on their way to New York.

He didn't feel one bit guilty about that technician he kicked out of the Quinjet.

* * *

 

In the end, every single one of them turned up and fought against Loki and his alien 'friends' together. Stark, to Steve's relief, hadn't been flattened by Loki by the time they arrived and had actually managed to go get an even fancier-looking suit of armour. Thor, who had been dumped out of the Helicarrier during the attack, had also found his way to New York somehow. Steve wasn't quite sure how he had managed that, but maybe the man had something like a sixth sense for his brother. Even Banner eventually showed up (as Banner and not Hulk), much to Steve's quiet surprise and Stark's apparent satisfaction.

Once the team was assembled, they realised they actually worked together very well.

Natasha and Clint were both trained professionals that had keen eyes and quick reflexes. They knew what they were doing, and they also knew that Steve knew what he was doing, so they quickly worked out what Steve was expecting from them. In fact, they made him their leader seemingly without a second thought.

Thor, when he was willing to listen, was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. He was a kind of god, alright, sturdy and seemingly indestructible, but he also looked out for his teammates like no other, and once they stood together on the battlefield, Steve understood why Thor was famed as a warrior. He fought determinedly but not viciously – a man hardened by battle, but not poisoned by its cruelty. A good man.

Stark was, surprisingly, an extremely adaptive fighter, and, for some reason, he was able to read Steve like no-one else. Whatever Steve did, Stark was right there when he was needed, and he always managed to pop up at exactly the right moment. Steve wondered about that, but he decided that right now was really not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Banner, or rather the Hulk, was an extremely valuable team member when he concentrated his anger and violence solely on their enemies. Or caught flying suits of armour that didn't fly anymore.

When Steve saw Stark head towards the hole in the sky with a nuke on his back (yes, he had read up on that already, and he was still _disgusted_ ), he had a sudden flashback to the lab on the Helicarrier, remembering what he had said up there. He saw himself accusing Stark of being egoistical and shallow, and he felt immense guilt for it. This, right here, definitely wasn't what he had wanted, and looking back on it now, the things said and done on the Helicarrier were completely, utterly ridiculous.

Giving the order to close the hole left a horrible taste in his mouth.

But Stark managed to come back anyway, and nearly got himself killed twice in the span of two minutes.

When Thor ripped off the face plate and Steve saw Stark's impossibly still and pale face, Steve thought they had really lost him, that even the Hulk's timely intervention had come too late. _Lying on the wire to let others crawl over you_ , hah, why had he said that. He felt like he had _asked_ Stark to do it.

Then the Hulk, impatient and unable to calm down, roared so loudly that the ground under them shook, and vibrations rattled Iron Man's armour.

The light in Stark's armour flickered on once more.

A moment later, Stark miraculously opened his eyes and looked around, disoriented and confused. At this sight, Steve felt all tension leave his body, and he allowed himself to slump down. So many people had died today already; at least one person had managed to pull through.

“We won,” he said to Stark, feeling the corners of his lips turn up a little. Stark looked at him intensely, eyebrows knitted, making Steve feel distinctly self-conscious.

“Good...good,” Stark croaked after a moment. “Can I lie down now?”

“We're not finished yet,” Thor reminded them, looking towards Stark Tower. Steve also turned around and looked at the half-destroyed top of the tower. Loki. He stood up, readied himself, and held out his hand to Stark.

Stark frowned at him once more, but he took Steve's hand and pulled himself up.

* * *

 

To Steve's (and probably everyone else's) great relief, Loki realised that he had lost and didn't try to play any more tricks. And to Steve's (and probably everyone else's) quiet satisfaction, Loki had not weathered his encounter with the Hulk particularly gracefully.

Now that Loki was subdued, though, the question of what they should do with him remained. He didn't have his sceptre any longer, but he still had his own magic, which meant that they couldn't simply dump him in a prison. After a short but fruitless discussion, Steve suddenly realised that Stark had quietly left somewhere in the middle. Just when he wanted to call attention to the fact that Stark had suddenly disappeared, however, he returned with a change of clothes, new sunglasses (for whatever reason), and some materials and tools.

“Hey, Hulk,” Stark said easily. “I think we could use some of Bruce's genius brain right now.”

The Hulk stared at him for a moment, before he growled at Loki and started to shrink. Once he had finished changing back to Bruce, and before Bruce could get too embarrassed by his state of undress, Stark threw a complete change of clothes to him. Bruce gratefully smiled at Stark (who smirked back and wiggled his eyebrows), before he, Stark, Thor and the scientist who had been kidnapped by Loki, a Dr. Selvig, gathered in a circle and started discussing possible ways to bind Loki's magic for good.

Steve, Natasha and Clint stayed close to Loki, glaring at him and half-heartedly listening to the muttering, discussing and sometimes loud disagreeing going on in the background.

A lot of noise (and nerves) later, they had finally come up with shackles and a mouth gag.

“That doesn't really look like it'll do the job,” Clint announced with a doubtful face.

“It's not done yet,” Bruce replied. He walked towards Loki and started putting on the shackles. They all looked on as Loki was bound, and then finally, Thor placed the gag around Loki's face. If Loki was angry or humiliated, he didn't show it. Once it was done, Thor lifted the Tesseract. The inscriptions on the gag and the shackles shone in a brilliant blue for one moment, before the light went out once more.

“He is bound now,” Thor announced. “And unable to use his magic.”

They all stared at Loki for one moment, who stared back at them with an unreadable expression.

“Good,” Natasha finally broke the silence. “Now let's stuff _that_ somewhere in a broom closet and go get some food.”

“But what about...” Steve started, but once again, Natasha interrupted him.

“Steve,” she said, one corner of her mouth slightly twitching. “I have seen the data on your metabolism. You need some food, _soon_ , and everyone else does, too. The rest can come after.”

“I...,” Steve tried to protest again, but then he relented. Fainting in the middle of clean-up would do them absolutely no good. “Fine. Let's go get food.”

“Great.” Stark grinned tiredly. “J, you know what you have to do.”

“Yes, sir,” a voice from the ceiling answered. “I am already in contact with several rescue teams.”

“What?” Steve asked, confused. “Rescue teams?”

“Yeah,” Stark answered offhandedly, but he raised his voice while he was already heading towards the elevator. “J.A.R.V.I.S. is my A.I. – Artificial Intelligence. He's linked to the Stark Satellite System, various surveillance systems, what-have-you. He's going to scan the rubble and tell the rescue teams where they have to look for survivors. And all that while we take a break.”

He stepped into the elevator, turned around and wiggled his eyebrows at Steve in a dramatic fashion. And well, for once Steve couldn't deny that he was the tiniest bit impressed. The _tiniest_ bit.

They all filed into the elevator and made their way back down to the streets while Stark heavily insisted that they _really_ had to try a thing called 'shawarma.'

When Steve asked what 'shawarma' was, he just shrugged but insisted on trying it anyway.

* * *

 

After they had gotten rid of Loki in a rather unceremonious manner (namely dumping him on some first response S.H.I.E.L.D. agents), dinner turned out to be a rather quiet affair. Dr. Selvig had gone with the agents, so they were back down to six people. All of them were in various stages of injury and exhaustion, and most were both at once. Bruce definitely looked the best of them since he hadn't really been directly involved in the fight and had already gotten his second change of clothes today. Stark looked positively mauled, despite hiding behind his sunglasses, and the rest of them only looked marginally better.

Steve had lots and lots of questions for all of them, now that the immediate threat was over, but at the moment, he simply felt too exhausted to do much more than stuff his mouth with food and replenish his energy. The others seemed to feel the same way. They were surrounded by wreckage and broken glass, but they didn't really care right now. All of them were greedily devouring the food that their patron had given them for free. He had insisted on doing so since they had just saved the city and 'he wouldn't be allowed to sell anything anyway, the way his restaurant looked at the moment.' (Not that that mattered at all right now, in Steve's opinion.)

So they ate, and they drank, and one after another finished their food.

Frankly speaking, they were all exhausted, both physically as well as emotionally, but they couldn't rest yet. Steve knew that if he didn't go out there and try to help, he wouldn't be able to rest. And he wasn't the only one thinking like that, apparently. When the last bit of food had been eaten, they all stood up in silent agreement and got ready for some rescue work.

* * *

 

It wasn't pretty. Steve had already assumed as much. An attack on a highly populated city like New York could only end up in a disturbing number of casualties, but seeing both the wounded and the dead being pulled out of the rubble still hit him hard where it hurt. The horror never really became any less, even though Steve had seen it all before. And the fact that this very place used to be his home at some point in time gave him a particularly awful feeling.

Still, he trudged on, quietly helping the rescue teams move the rubble to get people out of what might otherwise become their grave. After a while, his exhaustion became so great that he mostly worked on instinct, moving and carrying rubble without really thinking any longer. He couldn't deal with the situation right now, and doing the simple task of lifting and moving distracted him from thinking too hard.

He was so immersed into the repetitive work that he actually jumped when someone laid their hand on his shoulder.

“Natasha,” he said, surprised. “Is something the matter?”

“Steve, I think it's time for us all to retire,” Natasha gently insisted.

“But-” Steve tried to object, but Natasha shushed him.

“You're barely standing on your feet,” she observed. “Soon, we'll have to dig _you_ out of the rubble. We need sleep. They'll be okay, Steve. A lot of people have come to help, and there's still J.A.R.V.I.S.; Stark will make sure they'll save as many people as they possibly can.”

Steve sighed, but he knew that Natasha was right. He wasn't really much help anymore.

“Are we going back to the Helicarrier?” he asked Natasha.

“No,” Natasha said with a small twist of her lips. “Mr. Stark has gracefully invited us to reside in his tower for the moment.”

“Really?” Steve looked up to the tower, surprised. Not that he was complaining. He was so exhausted, he could have lain down on the rubble and slept like a baby. Natasha gave him the signal to follow, however, so he figured he would actually see a bed from up close tonight.

Clint and Bruce were already waiting for them. Thor, on the other hand, had opted out and gone off to see his brother once more. If he was trying to make sure that he was alright or if he was once again trying to convince Loki that what he did was wrong, Steve didn't know. It didn't matter to him at the moment, as long as Loki stayed right where he was.

“Where is Stark?” Steve asked, craning his neck. Iron Man's colourful armour was nowhere to be seen.

“He's already gone ahead,” Natasha explained. “Come on, I'll show you. I know the way.”

She then proceeded to show them the way to the Tower and into the elevator that brought them to one of the upper floors.

“Good evening, lady and gentlemen,” they were greeted by the same courteous voice in the ceiling from before. “May I show you to your rooms?”

They were all too tired to really do anything more than mumble their goodnights and vanish into the rooms that J.A.R.V.I.S. had assigned them.

With relief, Steve saw that a private bathroom was attached to the bedroom, and he quietly delighted in stripping off his clothes and stepping under the hot showerhead. He had heard that the energy grid of the Tower was independent from the city's grid, so it wasn't affected by the state of the city. The water was hot and the electricity was working, and Steve was honestly feeling bad for all the people that wouldn't have access to their own baths or electricity for a while.

Stepping out of the shower, he wrapped himself in a fluffy bathrobe that was already waiting for him and flopped onto the bed. He had expected that sleep would come as soon as his head hit the pillow, but once he was lying on the bed, he suddenly felt restless and wide awake. So many things had happened today, and Steve's mind was still whirring.

Eventually, Steve gave up on sleeping and got out of bed once more. He opened the door and peeked out.

“J.A.R.V.I.S.?” he whispered.

“Yes, sir?” the voice came from directly above him, startling him. “I am installed in the whole tower and am available at any time. Do not worry, though; it is not my habit to peek uninvited.”

“Say,” he coughed, trying to will away the blush threatening to take over his face. “Do you happen to know if Mr. Stark is still awake?”

“As a matter of fact, he is, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S answered. “Do you wish to speak him?”

“If that's possible?” Steve requested.

“He is currently in the penthouse, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S helpfully instructed him. “I believe you already know the way.”

“Yes...thank you.” Steve smiled at the ceiling, making his way over to the elevator.

* * *

 

Stark was standing in front of the destroyed glass of the window in the living room, staring down onto the destroyed city. The room was mostly dark, the lights dimmed down to a level that was just bright enough so one would not accidentally trip over anything. Steve hesitated for a moment, but then he decided it was really time for the two of them to have a conversation (that did not end in insults or shouting, hopefully).

“Mr. Stark-” he started.

“You confuse me, you know,” Stark quietly interrupted him without turning around. “And don't call me Mr. Stark – that was my father. I'm Tony.”

With that, he turned around and held his hand out. Steve couldn't help the slight sense of excitement bubbling up inside of him.

“Steve,” he replied, smiling a little, taking Tony's hand and giving it a firm shake.

“See, again,” Tony said, knitting his eyebrows. “You're doing it again. I can't get a read on you. I thought you were angry, and suddenly you're smiling.”

“That makes two of us,” Steve informed him. “You're hiding behind your sunglasses and I never know what comes next. You're volatile and rude. But I'm sorry about what I said to you before. You are definitely a hero.”

That startled a laugh out of Tony.

“I'm certainly no hero, Mr. I-stand-up-to-bullies-even-when-I-know-I-don't-stand-a-chance.” He waved the compliment away with a dismissive smile. “I simply do what is necessary to get the job done. I agree with you on the volatile and rude, although that one is public knowledge. I thought you disliked me. You kept staring at me with a really angry face the whole time.”

“Because you were either not talking to me or insulting me!” Steve exclaimed. “And now you're still wearing those blasted sunglasses even though it's dark!”

“You're really bothered by the glasses,” Tony observed a little dumbly.

“Yes, I am! I want to look into someone's eyes when I'm talking to them!” Steve tried to explain himself, still agitated.

“Well, we're going to have a problem then,” Tony calmly stated, face going carefully expressionless. “Because in that case, we won't be able to talk at all.”

“And why is that?” Steve asked, folding his arms over his chest, peeved.

“Because I'm deaf, _Mr. Rogers_. And the only way I'm able to 'hear' you at all is by having everything you say displayed on my glasses by J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Tony explained. He looked utterly unaffected by the admission, but the way he stumbled over the words as if they were a bumpy road told Steve he was anything but. Tony hesitated for a moment, looking like he wanted to add something more, but then he sighed. “Good night, Captain.”

He quickly walked past Steve and vanished down the dark hallway. Steve kept standing there in the darkness, trying to process that new information. He had hoped to get some insight out of a conversation with _Stark_ , but he had gotten much more than he had bargained for. _Much more._ Suddenly, a lot of things made sense. Not only the reason why he always wore glasses, but also why he usually spoke with a subdued voice, almost in a murmur. Why, when he spoke, his whole body moved with him, as if he _were speaking with his body_. Why he had avoided talking to Steve as best as he could.

“Mr. Rogers?” J.A.R.V.I.S. gently reminded him after he had stood there for a while, rooted to the spot. “I believe it is time for you to go to bed.”

“Yes,” Steve answered, confused and unsure what to do with this unexpected confession. “I think it is.”


	2. Peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The colour coding was a positively painful, but there's a reason to it: Colour means Tony sees the text on his glasses, italic colour means someone is using sign language. There is SO MUCH I couldn't incorporate (seriously, if you know nothing about sign language, go and educate yourself, it's quite different than spoken language and there are lots of informative websites out there), so I wanted a clear signifier when people aren't hearing something/are using sign language. It's a poor substitute for actual sign language, but anything else would have probably been way to complicated. 
> 
> There's probably a lot of stuff I should mention here, but I can't think of anything else right now, so if you have questions, ask away!

The bed vibrated slightly under Tony, forcing him to wake up. He tried to ignore the wake-up call, clinging to his pillow and pretending to be still asleep, but J.A.R.V.I.S. knew him too well. (And he monitored his bodily functions at all times, so there was no escape from him anyway.)

When he still refused to move, the bed started to vibrate even more violently until he was finally forced to get up or risk being thrown out of his own bed. He had tried out a variety of other things as a substitute for an alarm clock, but nothing else really worked on him. When he was actually asleep for once (which happened rarely enough as it was), nothing short of an earthquake could get him out of bed. And anyway, he was rich and a genius for a reason. A vibrating bed was really simple to construct, not to mention it was also _fun_.

Good morning, sir, J.A.R.V.I.S displayed on the half-dimmed window when he finally peeled the covers back and scrambled out of bed. I am sorry to wake you up so soon, but I believe you have several important appointments today. Breakfast has already been prepared. 

Tony groaned internally. He felt like doing absolutely nothing today, other than shutting himself into his workshop and maybe tinkering a little. Nothing concerning the armour, no, just letting the ideas flow and seeing where they took him. But the Avengers' business with Loki was not quite finished yet, and Pepper probably wanted to talk to him, and... Rhodey had definitely gotten wind about what had happened by now, too.

And then there was the thing with...Steve? Cap? Rogers? Tony couldn't believe that he had actually confessed his little secret to him. It had probably been the fact that he had been dead on his feet and his brain had just about shut down that moment. He should have been rational, thought things over first, made sure that he was the one who controlled the conversation. Instead, he had just blurted it out and ran away when he'd realised what he had done.

And Cap _hadn't known_. He had been taken by utter surprise, complete with a slack jaw and wide eyes. Natasha and him were so chummy with each other, Tony had expected that she had told him about it immediately. And that they had had a good laugh or two behind his back about that _poor_ little rich genius playing at being a hero.

But it didn't matter anymore, because now Cap knew anyway. And Tony didn't want to face him. He didn't want to see pity on the face of the person he had always looked up to, a hero that had managed to overcome his own physical deficiencies. Tony had never been able to. He simply distracted people from the problem at hand by making a spectacle of himself.

Stretching his sore limbs, he slowly walked towards the bathroom. Maybe a shower would make things better. Normally, the process of showering, drying, shaving, styling – one little task carefully completed after the other – helped him to calm down and made him feel ready to face the world.

This time was no different. Slowly, 'Billionaire Playboy Tony Stark' started to emerge out of the crumpled mess he had been before. Once he was content with his looks, he left the bathroom and stood in front of his walk-in closet for a moment, considering. Finally, he smiled and chose smart black suit with a slight satin shine to it, together with a black shirt and a deep pink tie.

He was still Tony Stark, and he wasn't afraid of anything.

* * *

 

When he left his bedroom, he put on his glasses. To be honest, Tony was rather proud of his invention, even though it meant he was always walking around looking like a douche bag (as Captain Rogers had so helpfully pointed out yesterday night).

He had plans to make the glasses marketable eventually, but there was a difference in one person walking around with them, and a whole lot of people using said glasses and needing a satellite uplink to a voice-to-text translation program.. The sheer amount of data that would need to be processed and displayed on the screen without any perceptible delay made it extremely difficult. He was a genius, not a magician.

Sighing, Tony entered his kitchen and almost backpedalled right out again. Every single Avenger was sitting in his kitchen eating breakfast, even _Thor_. He glared at the ceiling, trying to convey to JARVIS just how happy he was about leaving out that tiny little detail. And why had his A.I. allowed them to raid his kitchen, anyway?

Ah, look who's returned from the dead, Clint greeted him. Obviously, Clint had noticed Tony first. Eyes of a hawk and all that.

Natasha lifted her hand with a little smirk and gave a little abbreviated wave. _Hello._

She looked perfectly at home in his kitchen, a picture of relaxation and ease, but Tony could see her slight tension. It was the same demeanour that had made him doubtful when she had pretended to be Pepper's new assistant. She was good, good enough that she had managed to delude him several times. Not good enough to fool him completely, though. The only one that had been able to do that had been Obie, but that was a wholly different can of worms he refused to open.

Cap, who was sitting next to Natasha, looked up like a deer caught in the headlights when Tony entered the kitchen. He visibly gathered himself before he smiled. Good morning, Tony.

Tony quickly averted his eyes, searching for Bruce.

Bruce also smiled at him, lifting a cup of piping hot coffee with careful hands. Hey, Tony. J.A.R.V.I.S. gave me instructions on how to make your coffee.

Tony walked over to Bruce and gratefully accepted the coffee, inhaling it immediately, diligently ignoring ~~Cap~~ everyone else. He hummed a little between two gulps, feeling the vibrations in his throat, hoping he could mask it as noises of appreciation for the coffee. He was actually trying to find his voice inconspicuously, because he hadn't expected that he would need to be vocal quite this early in the morning. The only one who bothered him this early in the morning was Pepper, and with Pepper, he didn't have to _talk_.

And there it was; as soon as he had finished the first cup, someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

My dear friend, Thor announced with a grave expression on his face. I feel rude for intruding into your home without invitation. I've been assured by your artificial intelligence that you do not mind. Still, I entered your house without invitation, and I feel the need to apologize.

“Thor, no,” Tony objected, the corners of his mouth lifting upwards almost against his will. He carefully formed Thor's name in his mouth. It still felt a bit like a foreign object. “You've fought alongside us; you're obviously always welcome here. Don't worry about things like that.”

Thank you, Man of Iron, Thor said with a large smile, giving his shoulder a final squeeze. You truly are a good man.

“I wouldn't say so.” Tony grinned. “But I know better than to come between a man and his breakfast.”

Thor laughed loudly at that, a booming sound that reverberated in Tony's chest like thunder, and turned back to the table.

* * *

 

Breakfast with a bunch of freshly baked superheroes was unexpectedly fun. Well, Bruce alone would have already been enough for that, but Thor's joviality and Natasha's snark considerably lightened the atmosphere. Thor was especially great because his expressiveness made it that much easier to follow his strange tales of Asgard and all the things he had been up to when he had been a child.

If only it wasn't for Cap. Every time Tony so much as glanced in his direction, the guy would smile at him. It was as if he was trying to counterbalance the frowning he had constantly been doing before, like he had put a neon sign over his head reading: _I'm not angry at you_.

Tony really didn't know what to do with it. It bothered him just as much as the frowning.

Clint had been mostly quiet and seemingly mentally absent during the breakfast. Tony had thought it was probably because he was still adjusting after being roughly released from Loki's mind control, but then Natasha said something to Clint, and Clint didn't react at all.

**Clint** , Natasha nearly shouted, the volume meter on Tony's display rising so suddenly that he twitched despite the fact that he couldn't actually hear her call. Clint's head finally whipped around, looking at her with a sharp expression.

_Put your damn hearing aids in _ , she signed. _We're having a conversation here._

Clint murmured something most likely very uncharitable under his breath (JARVIS refused to translate, like he often did with curse words, the cheat), but he dug around in his pocket, pulled out two BTEs and fixed them behind his ear.

Tony was caught by surprise by the whole thing. He had known that Natasha could speak ASL, but he hadn't known that Clint Barton, master marksman, was hard of hearing. He had thought... People like him just weren't hero material. Or any kind of material.

He quickly stomped down his shock and grinned at Clint obnoxiously.

“Clint, you have BTEs?” he asked, mock-offended. “How don't you break them all the time? I can make you something better than those in twenty minutes.”

It's usually not a problem. I'm safely up in my nest, shooting things, Clint answered, rolling his eyes, but Tony could clearly see a spark of interest lighting up. He'd have to invite him down to his workshop for a fitting as soon as they had some free time, Tony decided. He himself had never worn hearing aids, because his hearing loss had been complete from the beginning. But there was no way a detail like that was going to stop him from inventing the best hearing aids the world had ever seen.

Thor also looked at Clint's hearing aids, fascinated by them.

They make me hear better, Clint explained to Thor, eyeing him up a little doubtfully. Without them, I only hear very loud noises.

Ah yes, Thor replied, apparently having seen enough and turning his attention back towards lathering his slice of bread with butter. We know of such devices, although the ones I have seen on Asgard look very different.

You do? Bruce asked, leaning forwards in interest. That's fascinating. I thought you might have some kind of magical cure for everything.

Not every ailment can be healed, Thor remarked, assuming the manner of a man who had seen many things in his lifetime. And not everything is an ailment that needs to be healed.

Tony snorted at that, because seriously? He believed that everything had a cure. Anything 'incurable' simply meant that they didn't have the technology to be able to do something about it yet.

Looks like Mr. Grump over there doesn't agree, Clint smirked.

“It's all a matter of technology,” Tony haughtily answered, paying particular attention to the proper pronunciation of 'technology', just as he had been taught over and over again. A word he despised for a thing he loved.

Children, Bruce interrupted in his usual deliberately careful manner. Don't get into a fight now. We still need to do some things today.

Ah yeah, Clint said, expression falling immediately. Loki.

* * *

 

Thor had told them that he would take Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard with him. All of the Avengers (and Fury) had easily agreed, mostly because they simply didn't have the means of keeping either the Tesseract or Loki under lock and key on Earth. And who would argue with a god who was able to summon lightning anyway. (Okay, Tony totally would, just not this time. While he itched to get his hands on the Tesseract, he wasn't dumb enough not to foresee exactly what would happen when it remained on Earth.)

They picked up Selvig, Loki and the Tesseract along the way before they made their way over to Central Park. Thor had told them that an open space would be safer for inter-dimensional travel. To avoid something getting hit or someone being taken on the journey of their life against their will, he had added with a small, humorous smile.

Honestly speaking, Tony was slightly disappointed that Thor would already leave them. He was easily likeable, very much unlike his brother. Loki gave him the creeps, with his carefully schooled, unreadable expression and careful movements, like a predator circling his prey. The further _he_ was away from Earth, the better Tony would feel. He had a feeling that Loki might have accepted that he had lost the battle – but the war wasn't over yet.

When they were almost ready to send Thor and Loki off, Thor suddenly turned around to Tony and laid his hand on his shoulder once more.

I know that you do not think much of yourself, Man of Iron, Thor said quietly. (Or at least, JARVIS helpfully reduced the bars on the volume indicator to tell Tony as much.) But you are a good man. I am honoured to have made your acquaintance.

Tony eyed Thor doubtfully for a moment, trying to gauge his intention, but Thor only looked down on him with a earnest expression on his face. Obie had also had the habit of laying a hand on his shoulder, and Tony had ever since learned to recognise it as a sign of dominance and dismissal. With Thor, however, it felt comfortable. He seemed almost arrogant in his self-confidence, but that was something Tony could appreciate. It was honest.

“I hope we'll meet again,” Tony finally admitted in a fit of honesty.

We will, my friend, Thor assured him with a knowing smile, before he turned away to tell the others that he was ready to leave now.

* * *

 

Tony stared at the sky for a while even after Thor and the bridge had long vanished. He couldn't help but feel a bit peeved. Somewhere out there was a place where technology superior to even _his_ wildest imaginations existed. And right now, it was impossible for him to reach and study it. Suits and JARVIS it was, then.

What did Thor tell you? Bruce asked him when he finally turned around and walked back towards his car.

“That you like to wear lacy red underwear,” Tony teased with a grin.

Impossible, Bruce answered with a completely deadpan face. Salmon pink is quite obviously the only way to go.

Tony had to chuckle at that. He might have a tiny crush on the man. He had immediately understood when Tony was serious and when he was only joking. And he was snarky.

“Come on, Bruce,” he tempted him, patting the door of his car. “Let's go and do some sciencing.”

That is not a verb, Bruce answered in his unassuming but plain-spoken manner. And JARVIS has asked me to remind you that a Ms. Potts is waiting for you.

“Shit,” Tony groaned, playing it up. “I'm dead.”

We'll see about that, Bruce drily remarked, getting into the car.

Well, Pepper might not kill him, but Tony definitely knew what was coming. He knew that he had shocked her with his little stunt yesterday. He knew he had worried her. And if Pepper deserved something, it was that she didn't have to worry about him all the time. But he also couldn't lie to her. If he had to do the same thing all over again, he would do it, without a single second's hesitation.

Tony was good at fixing things, but this one thing, he really didn't know how to fix.

“Happy,” he said resignedly as he slid into the back seat of the car, “back to the tower, please.”

Before he could close the car door, however, suddenly Cap was standing there, looking slightly lost.

Would you mind taking me back to the tower with you? he asked, shrugging almost shyly. The others are going back to SHIELD, but I still have stuff I left at the tower, so...

Tony would have probably made fun of him, but Bruce was already scooting over, pulling Tony with him.

“Hey, it's my car, I make the decisions here!” Tony squawked indignantly.

Fine, I'll walk as well, in that case, Bruce retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Tony pouted the whole way back to the tower.

When he wasn't getting distracted by Cap's quiet presence right next to him, anyway.

* * *

 

Pepper was, as expected, already waiting for him in the penthouse. She had opted for a simple white blouse and black trousers (and, most importantly, flat shoes) rather than her usual CEO gear. That informed him that this conversation was going to be uncomfortably personal, at least for him. He had hoped that she would tell him that he was the owner and head of Stark Industries, and that he should think of his company first and foremost before he got into situations like yesterday. That would be much more bearable. But her clothing alone told him that that had been nothing more than a convenient fantasy.

_Pepper_ , he signed, giving his right hand a double shake. It had been a joke at first, the sign, but somehow, it had stuck.

Her nickname was the only thing he managed. He let his hands hang from his sides, unsure of how to continue.

Pepper, too, made no move to talk for a moment, giving him a long, hard stare. Her shoulders were drawn and her expression was serious, but the knit between her brows wasn't as pronounced as it could be, so that meant that she was worried rather than angry. That was... something.

_I really don't know what to say_ , Pepper eventually started to sign. _You already know what I'm thinking, and I know that the only thing you could do about it is give me empty promises. So let's not fight about it. I'm just very happy to see you're fine._

_You know me, I always manage to wiggle through somehow_ , Tony replied with a tired smirk.

_Thank God for that_ , Pepper gently teased him. _Rhodey called me, you know. He was also worried._

_Rhodey is a mother-hen_ , Tony answered, grimacing. Rhodey really didn't have any right to complain, because he was just as bad. He just ended up almost dying a little less frequently than Tony did.

_ Apparently you need a few mother-hens in your life. Or rather, you seem to attract them. _

_ Rude. _

_ That's you, yes. _

Tony couldn't help but smile at that. He finally felt himself relax a little, so he went over to the bar (or rather, what had been rescued from it) and fixed himself and Pepper a drink. Pepper had taken a seat on one of the couches, so he followed, handed her a drink and took a seat next to her.

_Tell me about the others_ , she prompted after taking a sip.

Tony didn't need to be asked twice. He felt very reluctant to talk about what had happened with the nuke, but telling Pepper about everything else was fun. He had finally managed to meet Bruce Banner and the man had been just as brilliant and full of snark and defiance as Tony had hoped. He had gotten into a fight Thor, an actual alien and demigod, and managed to get a friendship out of it. Natasha, who was her usual arcane self who made jokes at inopportune moments. Clint, who was, surprisingly, hard of hearing and whose archery skills had managed to be a royal pain in their ass when he wasn't lucid and shooting evil aliens bent on world domination. Strange people very much after Tony's taste.

He carefully avoided saying too much about Cap, but if he read Pepper slight eyebrow twitch right, she guessed anyway.

* * *

 

_Say, Pepper_ , he started again a while after they had finished recapitulating yesterday's events and had lapsed into a comfortable silence. _Am I lovable?_

He could see Pepper chuckle at his question, which, okay, was not really inspiring his confidence.

_You are, Tony, you are_ , Pepper quickly assured him, still holding in a laugh. Tony tried to complain, but Pepper shushed him.

_In all honesty, Tony, you are_ , Pepper repeated. _I won't say you can't be irritating and obnoxious and frustrating sometimes, but you are a good person. Anyone who says anything else is a fool. Did someone say anything to you, Tony? Do I have to take out my Manolos?_

Pepper's worry made Tony smile against his will. He didn't agree with her, but she really was one of the only people he could always count on.

_ Don't worry about it, it's really nothing. I'm just feeling a little off at the moment. _

_I love you, Tony, you know that_ , Pepper signed insistently.

_ I love you, too. But... _

_ There are no buts, Tony. It just wasn't supposed to happen. We both have things that are important to us, things we aren't willing to give up. We made a decision. That's just how it is. _

Pepper's eyes were sad, but her jaw was set determinedly. _I love you, Tony._

Tony averted his eyes and slowly leaned to the side until his head was lying on Pepper's shoulder.

“I know, Pepper,” he mumbled.

* * *

 

Pepper and Tony stayed on the sofa, talking freely about anything that came to their minds. Tony had been prepared for this to become a very uncomfortable meeting, but Pepper, once more, had shown him that she was the adult out of the two of them. He enjoyed the calm, easy atmosphere between the two of them, despite all the things that had happened.

After two hours, though, Pepper was forced to leave. While Tony would take care of the damage that had been done to Stark Tower, there were other properties of Stark Industries that had also been hit. Pepper had to check on everything, see what had been damaged, decide what damages needed to be repaired immediately, and which ones could be ignored for the moment.

Damage control wasn't an easy job, but if there was someone who was really good at it, it was Pepper. He still had to congratulate himself sometimes about his decision to make Pepper CEO, because that was definitely one of the best decisions he had ever made in his life. No one did a better job than her.

He was really tired and had planned to just quickly call Rhodey after he had said goodbye to Pepper, and then he would go to bed and sleep for the next three days at least. But as soon as he'd given Pepper a kiss on her cheek and turned around to go make that call, JARVIS informed him that Captain Rogers was hoping he could speak with him.

That was kind of the very last thing that he wanted to do right now. It would be really better for everyone if Cap could just accept that the two of them were simply not able to mix well. And anyway, he had thought that he had only came back to the tower to pick up his shield and a few other things he had left here. Tony had thought he'd left a long time ago.

He waved the message away carelessly. But JARVIS was insistent, letting it pop up again immediately.

_You're getting a little too autonomous lately_ , Tony observed. _Be careful or I might just reprogram you._

Sir, I would never go against your will, JARVIS replied.

Tony could almost hear the dry humour in his words. What a sarcastic little shit. He had wanted to keep the copy as close to the original as possible out of sheer ~~sentimentality~~ perfectionism, but that came to seriously bite him in the ass now. _Let him in already._

The next moment the elevator doors opened and one Captain Rogers stepped out, still dressed in the same pressed chinos, chequered shirt and leather jacket as before. The grandpa outfit should have looked horrible on a young, attractive man like Cap (Tony was deaf, not blind), but it suited him surprisingly well. It was seriously unfair, to be honest.

“Are you here to have another friendly conversation?” Tony couldn't help but taunt, putting on the glasses he had taken off earlier once more.

I wanted to apologise, Cap answered unceremoniously.

Tony refused to look at him, so he had no idea what his expression was. He told himself that he didn't care, that he was perfectly allowed to be rude.

“I don't really care,” he said aloud, forming the words carefully in his mouth. For a moment, he found himself wondering how it _sounded_.

I want us to be a team, Cap went on, not letting himself be distracted by Tony's blatant attempt to derail the conversation.

When Tony refused to answer, he added, Fury wants me to work for him.

Against his better judgement, Tony whirled around. “What-” he stumbled in his haste. “What for?”

Sensitive operations that need my special skill set, Cap answered. He looked neutral, as if it wouldn't bother him either way, but there was a small downwards twitch at the right corner of his mouth. That was all Tony really needed to know.

“Why is it even an option? That's seriously not your style,” Tony retorted after two calming breaths to make sure he was able to speak without stuttering and mumbling again. JARVIS always displayed a string of helpful data on the glasses, but that wasn't very useful when he was upset and wasn't speaking calmly and deliberately. So many years of strict training, and he still felt like a ventriloquist's puppet from time to time. He opened his mouth, but he had no control over the sounds that came out. He quickly banned the thought.

I'm a soldier, Tony, Cap reminded him, folding his arms in front of his chest. _Oho_. He was uncomfortable.

“Soldier, my ass, you can't follow orders for shit,” Tony sneered. When Cap opened his mouth, Tony quickly talked over him, trying not to stumble over the words again in his haste. “Don't even try to deny it, I know all the dirty details. You technically weren't even active military when you decided to go on your first op.”

Cap looked like was considering disagreeing for another moment, but then his stance relaxed and he grinned. I want us to be a team, he repeated once more, the smugness plastered all over his face.

Tony considered strangling the bastard right then and there. Unfortunately, strangling national icons was in really bad style, even for whimsical, eccentric billionaires like him.

* * *

 

Despite the fact that Tony repeated that no, he really wasn't interested in making this team-up into a permanent thing, Cap didn't give up. He had made the mistake of giving him a tiny bit of attention, and now he was stuck with a with an over six foot tall mountain of muscles with particularly effective puppy eyes. They might even be better than _his_ , which was, frankly, unacceptable.

“Why do you even want this so much?” Tony eventually felt himself forced to ask.

Because we were a great team, Cap answered with a small smile. We'd never met each other before, but we managed to work together almost seamlessly once we got over our issues. We fit and we succeeded. Think about what we can do once we've actually gotten used to each other. We could protect people so much better. We're going to be needed again, I'm sure of it.

“And what's in it for you?” Tony asked. That was the real point here, wasn't it? For him to suddenly come to Tony with such a request, and with such insistence, there must be a reason.

The question made Cap stutter and fidget for a moment. And Tony didn't make it any easier for him. He just stood there and stared, waiting for some kind of response.

I... I woke up, and I had lost so many things, Cap finally confessed reluctantly, folding his arms. His gaze was lost somewhere in the distance. The world and the people I knew are all gone. The ones who are still here have changed. They've left me behind in the past. And even though I was so happy to meet them again, it's... I bother them, you know? My presence makes people sad and confused. And I can't get it back. I know that. And I'm so tired of feeling lost here, of feeling useless in this new world. Fury's offered me a job, a job I'd want to do, one that protects people and puts me to good use. But...

“But then you would have to give up what little control you have,” Tony finished for him. Steve's gaze zeroed in on him, evidently surprised. “I might have a reputation, Cap, but I've been playing the game for a long time already. I know what control means. And I know what it means to lose it.”

Cap didn't reply to that, but he watched him sharply, intently.

“So you think we would make a great team,” Tony rehashed. “You want us to... step in when there's an emergency? Can we even do that? I'm sure there are laws against vigilantism and such.”

Not that you would know about these things, Mr. Stark, Cap teased. Tony had noticed it before. When Steve felt relaxed, like at the breakfast table this morning or now, he would tilt his head slightly to the left when he joked. ~~Not that Tony had been inconspicuously watching whenever Cap wasn't looking, trying to finally figure out his body language.~~

“Having the right connections can be very helpful.” Tony smiled back, waving a hand dismissively.

And we would need that, Cap immediately picked up. He literally perked up, like a dog who had been thrown a bone, and Tony wasn't quite sure if he should find it adorable or not. You have the weight to get people listen to you. Iron Man is already known to a lot of people. They trust him. They trust you.

“Does that mean I get to be the leader?” Tony asked with a challenging grin.

Co-leader, Cap answered deadpan, tilting his head to the left again. The leader is obviously me.

“You wish,” Tony warned. “You wish.”

* * *

 

Steve was good, Tony had to give him that. When it came to lying and manipulating, Natasha and Tony might be much better at it than Steve could ever be. The two of them knew how to deliberately hurt people with the very things that they feared to hear. Steve was too honest for that. But Steve had successfully managed to turn his determination and honesty into a weapon, and an effective one at that.

Steve hadn't just told Tony about his fears in the spur of the moment. He had deliberately presented Tony with one of his vulnerabilities to put them on equal footing once more. He was a strategist, and he had quickly learned that someone like Tony didn't do anything without getting something in return.

And since Tony had been too busy being angry at him, he hadn't seen it coming and reacted exactly as Steve had hoped he would. He had given Steve exactly what he'd wanted.

The fact that Tony saw exactly through Steve didn't make the trick any less effective. Quite the contrary.

Steve had just demonstrated the skills of a leader. And Tony would be lying if he insisted he didn't find that incredibly attractive.


End file.
